Family Tree
by OnceUponAShipper
Summary: Dani asked the inescapable question of who Neal had been. Both her parents, Emma and Regina, work together to answer honestly. SwanQueen!


"Who's Neal?"

To say that the ten and a half year-old's question stunned Emma and Regina would be the understatement of the century. The women practically drooled as they stared at their daughter.

"Uh, what?" Emma mumbled. She paused at the kitchen counter, the dinner plates she'd arranged balanced in her hands. She felt the gazes of the other three children, as they wanted to know as well.

"Who's Neal?" Dani repeated, her voice innocent and gentle.

"Where did you hear that name?" Regina questioned. She stood next to Emma and fought the hotness she felt in her cheeks.

Dani was just beginning to gain control of her powers, and had finally forgiven her parents for keeping it a secret. The question was, how many more secrets could she handle? "Henry mentioned the name once. I asked him who it was, but he didn't tell me. Was he someone from the Forest?"

In a reversal of roles, Emma was the one to draw a blank, and Regina was left to pick up the pieces. "Dani, sweetie, Neal was... someone special to your mom and Henry." The Swan-Mills children were on high alert, as they heard the sensitivity in Regina's voice. They knew something important was happening. Regina broke apart from the marble-top counter, and moved to the chair at the table. With her kids surrounding her, she knew she had their attention. "You know how your mom and I are Henry's parents? And you also know that I adopted him when he was born?"

"Yeah. Ma had to give him his best chance," Dani nodded. Emma was aware of the budding tears she was about to shed, though she tried desperately not to.

"Right," Regina agreed. "And she found Henry again and came to Storybrooke."

"Toe break the curse," Dani finished the story of her family's life.

"Exactly. Well, sweetie, Neal was someone from your mom's past," Regina explained. "He was also Gold's son."

"Baelfire?" The look of pure shock that crossed Dani's face showed that she had genuinely had no idea. It wasn't exactly a family secret, but a sensitive topic. The kids had known Henry had a father, but they hadn't known who it was. Emma and Regina had assumed Henry would tell Dani when he was ready, but it was clear to them that Henry may never tell his sister. And, while they didn't condone sharing other people's secrets, this was one that affected the whole family. It was up to the parents to introduce the phantom in the room.

Emma regained control of her numb body, her limp legs carried her to the table. She got down on one knee and crouched before Dani. "Daniela," she cleared her throat, "Neal was Henry's father."

Dani, as well as the twins, exhaled sharply. Faith was left to figure it out on her own, as her siblings were speechless. "But, Henry's dad is..." Dani croaked.

"Neal died, yeah. In Neverland," Emma said quietly.

"Wait, if Neal was Henry's dad, and you're Henry's mom- one of them- then.."

Emma saw the wheels in Dani's mind increase in speed as she put two and two together. "Neal and I were a couple, Dani. For a little while."

"What happened?"

Emma peered into Dani's emerald spheres, and then into Regina's brown orbs. "He had to go away, and so did I." She took one look at Dani's unimpressed face, and knew that she had to tell the truth. "We weren't good, Dani. We broke laws and we got busted. I couldn't care for Henry the way I wanted to, so your mom did."

"But, what happened to Neal? I thought Baelfire went through a portal. How'd you meet him?" Dani asked Emma.

"Daniela, this is a... tender topic-"

"No, it's ok, Gina." Emma stood up and let the blood flow through her legs once again. She dragged an empty chair up to her inquisitive daughter, but looked at all of her kids. Her hands shook in her lap as she spoke steadily. "To me, he was Neal. I met him when I was 18. I... I didn't know who he was yet. Then... everything happened. We went our separate ways. Henry and I found him after the curse broke. He was living in New York, engaged to a woman named Tamara."

"She's the one who took Henry," Dani remembered.

"Yeah, she was. When we got to Neal, I found out that he knew who I was. It doesn't matter how or why, but he knew about my family. That's when I learned he was Gold's son. He came back to Storybrooke with us. The portal he went through took him to our our, but he ended up in Neverland. We found his cave when we were there. Neal died when he was shot by Tamara." When Emma finished, she felt as though the weight of a 100 men had just been lifted from her shoulders.

Dani sat quietly and let everything sink in. She suddenly understood why no one ever talked about Neal: like everything else, it was connected to a part of her family's past they'd long since worked to overcome. "Ma?"

"Yeah?" Emma answered distractedly.

"Can... can I ask you something?" Dani sounded just like her brother. Emma nodded solemnly, and Dani searched for a polite way to say it. "Were you in love with Neal?"

Emma felt Regina's focus shift to her. "At first, yeah, I was. It's- here, this is how I explained it to Henry. Neal was my first love. He always will be. But, he wasn't my true love."

"I know that," Dani said simply. "Mom is."

Emma smiled, "Yeah, Mom is my true love. But I'll always love Neal. He gave me Henry. And your Mom, she gave him back, as well as a whole new life."

"So, Neal was good?" Dani wondered. She knew, through her family, never to base judgement on whether a person did good things or bad things, but if they were good at all.

"Neal was a great father to Henry." Emma was suddenly overcome with memories she'd pushed to the back of her mind.

"Then, Neal is the one Henry sees when he comes home... the grave he visits," Dani inferred.

Regina turned to kids, "Do you have any questions? Your mother and I will answer as best we can." Regina grasped Emma's hand next to her.

The twins both shook their heads, and Faith listened intently. Somehow, although only five, she was able to get the general idea. Dani was the only one with a further comment. "I'm sorry you lost Neal, Ma."

Emma gave Dani a gracious grin, "Thanks, Dani. It's not so bad anymore."

"What made it better?" Daniela asked.

The blonde mother took mental pictures of her children, as well as Regina, and then turned back to Dani. "You guys did."


End file.
